Framing Remix Rhetorically: Toward A Typology of Transformative Work

Since it entered the critical lexicon in composition and rhetoric, remix has become an increasingly popular topic for scholarly work and pedagogical focus. Despite its pervasiveness, remix remains a cumbersome and overwhelming conceptual category. As such, this article has two interconnected purposes: To develop a pliable and useable framework for understanding the rhetorical significance of remix, and to begin to chart some of the major types of remix writers compose today. I open by arguing that the rhetorical concept of imitation (imitatio) can serve as a malleable frame both to understand the rhetorical importance of remix and to help map the many ways in which remix writers accomplish their rhetorical goals. After developing this frame, I offer a four-part typology of remix: assemblage, reappropriation, redistribution, and genre play. Finally, I close by providing strategies for teaching and directions for future research.